Bobcats will acquire future first-rounder
With Trader Bob Whitsitt out of the league, maybe Charlotte Bobcats general manager Bernie Bickerstaff can pick up the moniker "Trader Bernie."
Bickerstaff appears to be on the verge of his second straight deal in as many days.
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The Bobcats selected Utah Jazz forward Sasha Pavlovic in Tuesday's expansion draft. Two league sources told ESPN Insider that the Bobcats will then turn around and send Pavlovic to the Cavaliers for a future first-round pick.
The lottery protected first-round pick is believed to be the one that the Toronto Raptors owe the Cavaliers as part of the Lamond Murray deal two years ago. The Cavaliers don't have to send a player back in the trade because they own a trade exception that covers Pavlovic's salary.
The Bobcats declined comment for the story.
Charlotte also selected Theron Smith of the Memphis Grizzlies and Primoz Brezec of the Indiana Pacers.
The Cavaliers are among several teams that have coveted Pavlovic for some time. However, the impetus to make the trade came after the Cavs learned that the Bobcats would select unprotected small forward Jason Kapono in the expansion draft. New assistant coach Kenny Natt was on Utah's staff last season and is said to think highly of Pavlovic.
Both Brezec and Smith are young and have small contracts that don't impact the Bobcats' salary cap. Brezec has one year at $1.5 million left. The Bobcats will own a one-year, $620,00 team option on Smith.
Neither Brezec nor Smith played extensively last season. Brezec averaged 1.6 points and four minutes per game for Indiana. Smith averaged 2.2 points and 8.9 minutes a game for Memphis.
As expected, the Bobcats selected Suns center Jahidi White with one of their expansion picks. How did the Suns convince the Bobcats to swallow this contract? They offered $3 million in cash and a future first-round pick, the one Cleveland owes them (that pick is lottery-protected, so Phoenix won't get it until the first year the Cavs make the playoffs).
The Bobcats likely will either turn around and trade White to a contender or waive him to get his salary off their cap. Getting White off the books gives Phoenix roughly $14.1 million in cap space to make a run at a free agent this summer.
Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. Send him an e-mail here.

